Heartbroken Texas Man Owes Life to Cat Who Died in Fire

An elderly Texas man said his life was saved by his cat, Angel, who pawed his face and woke him when a fire started in his home.

Reed McIntosh, 74, was sound asleep when his Grand Prairie home caught fire Tuesday morning. His cat Angel woke him up by pawing his face, according to the report on Fox News. “He did it again,” he recalled. “And I sort of sat up, like ‘what?!’”

McIntosh got out and called 911. Firefighters arrived and began fighting the flames and searching for the cats that were still inside. But it was too late. They had died from smoke inhalation. A woman with animal control brought the cats out in a clothes basket so he could say goodbye.

“I held them,” he said. “I loved them.” After losing his wife to cancer in 2007, McIntosh told Fox that his sole source of comfort has been his five cats.

He removed their collars for safe keeping. “If it hadn’t been for Angel, I would’ve been dead,” he said. “I think that was destined to be his name. I think he was destined to be here to save me on a Valentine’s Day. I’ll never forget.”